This Is a Command Ship!
by Starsinger
Summary: Kirk boards the USS Joshua while the Enterprise is in refit. Her crew is a little...off. We continue to meet the crew.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a Command Ship?! **

by Starsinger

**Okay, I'm going to start with a few minor explanations here. The USS Joshua is a fleet command vessel, originally designed by Shane Johnson, author of "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise" for a Star Trek fan club in the North Central Texas area (Dallas/Fort Worth). The name of the fan club, shockingly enough, is the USS Joshua NCC-3700. Amazing that I still remember that after twenty-three years. If you'd like more information on her, her crew (like me, yes, you'll actually find a picture of me on there, if you're curious enough and can get a hold of my real name), and what she's been doing for the past twenty-four (almost) years. The website is www . ussjoshua . org. Take out the spaces of course. The people on the Joshua, I don't own, they own themselves, even after Rende's act as an Orion Slave Girl, uh, never mind. This is a fan club, the make-up of the crew probably won't reflect what would actually be on a ship of this type. We're not normal. Don't own the rest.**

Fleet Captain James Kirk, along with Spock and Scotty beamed aboard the USS Joshua while the Enterprise was in refit. It felt a little strange to be on a ship that was technically under his command, but wasn't his. He was greeted by a middle aged white woman in civilian clothes. "Captain Kirk, I'm Administrator Kris McDaniel. Welcome aboard the Joshua."

"Administrator, huh? Isn't the civilian equivalent of Captain?"

"Yes, sir, I was Captain of the USS Gagarin before retiring and was offered a position in the Science Department by John, er, Captain Coward." She motioned for them to follow her, "John is in his ready room and would like you to join him there."

"What exactly is the Joshua class?" Kirk asked.

"She is a command cruiser. Capable of Warp 9, she can cruise comfortably and Warp 7. She has both communications and command capabilities for the entire fleet. I'll show you to the quarters that you would occupy should you need to utilize her coordination capabilities." Kirk noticed her green eyes that stood out against her dark brown hair, he flashed her a smile. "Don't try that with me, Captain, you're too young for me." They entered a turbolift, "Bridge," she said absently.

As they entered the bridge, a tall, man with brown hair rose to greet them, he wore Engineering Red with Captain's stripes as well. "Captain Kirk, Captain Steve Liptak."

"Uh, how many of Captain's rank do you have on board?" Kirk asked.

"Fleet Captain Rushing, Captain Liptak, Captains Coward, me, Bob, six I believe. We just kind of retire here. Steve over there also serves in the bar below we call Ten Below. It serves as a hangout for everyone. Captain Rende Coward runs the place." They went through another door and came up yet another, she rang the alert.

The door opened and yet another brown haired man with blue eyes sat behind yet another desk, John looked up. "Thank you, Kris," clearly a dismissal.

"You're welcome John, but I'm done running cute boys through the gauntlet. Poker at 8?"

"As usual at the Captain's Quarters," came the reply. The woman turned and left the room.

"Is she single?" Kirk asked.

Spock looked right at him, "Carol?"

"But she calls herself Kris!" he protested.

"And probably did before you were born," John commented with a grin. "I'm going to have to introduce you to my wife. She'll **love** you," the glint in John's eye made Kirk back up behind Spock. "Come on, I'll show you to the Admiral's quarters, or in your case, Fleet Captain's Quarters. I doubt you'll be on here often, though, the Enterprise is a fine vessel."

The Admiral's quarters were, well, enormous. He realized that there was enough room in here for him and his staff, if he had a staff. Most quarters were self contained, with a small partition for the bathroom. This had actual doors leading off the main area leading to the bedroom, and another to the bathroom. The main room held a desk, a communications device, and couches and chairs with writing boards and PADDs. "I'll let you settle in. Get comfortable and familiar with this. Captain Spock, Commander Scott, your quarters are on either side of Kirk's. I'll send someone to get you when we're ready for a test drive." Captain Coward left.

"Test drive? When did a ship become a car?" Kirk asked. All three of them sat on the couch. Kirk looked around, "Did he mention something about a poker night?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

by Starsinger

**Some explanations: this is mostly for those who haven't gone beyond the universe of ST2009/ID. The Joshua has the beginnings of technology available in eighty years, at the time of Star Trek the Next Generation. Intership transport has been perfected and is used regularly ie: beaming from a planet/ship/other object in space to someplace other than a transporter pad on the ship, like an away team from a planet directly to sickbay, and even inside the ship itself. From ST2009, you could see that this was a **_**little **_**tricky. Turbolift is still more often used. People walked in, told the lift where they wanted to go, and off they went. Communicators are the badge insignia on their chests. Riker tapped his chest insignia in "Encounter at Farpoint" to get the Enterprise's attention to beam him up. Last, and here is where I'm getting your attention, the Enterprise D had a battle bridge. It was a separate bridge that the command crew went to in times when the crew went into battle that they knew was coming. Why did they do this? Because they had a lot of civilians aboard that needed protecting. Are you asking "Huh? What did they do with the civilians?" The saucer section of the Enterprise separated from the ship and carried the families of the military personnel on the ship to safety. Okay, that didn't work so well in Star Trek Generations, the saucer section crashed into the planet, but most of the population was saved when the warp core exploded. Now, the Joshua doesn't have a battle bridge, per se, but it has a command and control center that might have one day evolved into a battle bridge. I am such a Trekkie, sigh.**

The three men looked at each other, wondering what to do when the room buzzer went off. "Enter," Kirk called. In walked Bones, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, and Marcus.

"Wow, who gets to sleep here," Uhura asked.

"I do, I mean Carol and I do," Jim said, somewhat embarrassed.

The first person to disappear was Scotty. Captain Liptak stopped by, "I thought you'd like to get your hands on the engine room, Mr. Scott."

"Well, she's no Enterprise, but I'll be more than happy to take a look at her," despite Scotty's words, his hands were rubbing together in anticipation. Steve grinned as he escorted the engineer out of the room.

A young man, who introduced himself as Lieutenant Commander Randy Gill came next. "Captain Spock, Commander Marcus?" he asked. "I'm Sci-Med chief, Randy Gill." Randy was young, reasonably good looking, with a mop of blonde hair and blue eyes that sparkled. Jim sat up straighter.

Carol leaned over and whispered, "He's married," pointing to the wedding band on the man's finger.

Bones looked confused, Randy grinned at him, "Don't worry, I'm sending over one of my top medical personnel for you. I deal mostly in Science." He winked at Kirk. It was a jaunty wink that told him that he'd have competition in the "charm" department if he was interested.

Next up Lieutenant Keith Alguire came for Uhura. He was nice, and competent, he and Uhura got along off the bat, as they talked about the various languages they'd encountered over the years. Another Lieutenant Commander, Melissa Solomon, showed up for Bones, much to his relief. Small, dark, and also wearing glasses, her acerbic nature was more than a match for the good doctor. "Dr. McCoy?" she asked, standing directly in front of him. He looked up at her, she had her hands on her hips. "Well, come on, I have work to do." Bones, wide eyed and feeling a little bullied, followed in the wake of her forceful personality.

Kirk, Sulu and Chekov sat still waiting. Not sure who would show up next. Fortunately, it was a familiar face. "Alright, all three of you, come on. John's ready for you in the CnC," Kris said. She smiled as she led them out of the room. They entered yet another turbolift where Kris announced, "Battle Bridge." Kris always seemed to have her hands full of stuff. Notebooks, paper, pens, all old-fashioned writing materials that bespoke her old-fashioned notions.

"Battle Bridge?" Kirk asked.

"Years ago, when we first started off on this ship, we tried everything to find the CnC, Command Control, Deck 9, that place that controls everything. Finally, a former Captain, Sean Caughman, renowned for his ability to get lost, got in a lift one day and said, 'Battle Bridge' and ended up there. He was trying to get back to his quarters." She said trying to stifle laugh.

The turbolift doors opened to reveal one of the most efficiently laid out bridges any of them had ever seen. A forward viewscreen still sat in the front. Instead of a single captain's chair, three chairs sat below a horseshoe shaped panel ringing behind them. In front of them was weapons and navigations. The horseshoe contained tactical. A kind of direct line of sight for what was going on outside the ship. Science, Communications and Engineering could be accessed in the panels at the back.

Captain John Coward stood in front of the command chairs, a striking, tall, red haired woman behind him, "Fleet Captain Kirk, welcome to Command and Control."

**Sean was also our Chief of Navigation, which became Ten Below, for many years. He earned his notoriety by missing Waco, Texas three times in the same night. He never lived that down. He died of a heart attack in Iraq three years ago. I miss him. I am open to suggestions, or even if you'd like to add yourself to this unusual band of misfits. Of course you could also go to the Joshua website and join, hint hint.**


End file.
